Criminal record and residency
After 20 years of an excellent conduct and clean record a year ago I was driving my semi truck in the estate of Ohio when the police stop me for going 5 miles over the speed limit. All my rights were violated that night. My mother live in my country of origin and she came visit every year. I live in south florida and my mother sister live in Jacksonville fl so I usually take my mother to her sister house in my semi truck. She use pills from her country to help with some mental illness. Look like she left the pills in my semi truck and the police find them. (Pills were not hidden)聽 聽We are talking about 15 pills and I have all the documents to prove they belong to her. The prosecutor don鈥檛 want to believe me and I was obligated to plead guilty and take a 1 year probation or risk 3 months in jail if I don鈥檛 take the deal.
I have a very strong accent and my English is not the best so I was afraid to go to trial and loose in front of a completely white jury in OHIO
so after 50 years of no drinking alcohol no smoking and not using any kind of drug I end with a misdemeanor for possession of controlled pills.聽 This pill are used to relax and slept believe me truckers need exactly the opposite.
After 20 years loving my new country I find out the the freedom and the supposedly rights are a joke and I want to leave. I am afraid of the police and don鈥檛 trust the justice system anymore.
Now the question. will I be able to get investment residency with a misdemeanor or I am obligated to keep living here for ever?
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DRVisitor wrote:To be honest, I don't think anyone can give you an answer until you apply and see. I would have tried to seal the record if you could and still may be able to. You are required to submit FBI background check when you apply.
It鈥檚 two years to seal the record. I am not even sure if the seal will be strong enough and not show for emigration matters.
The other option would be to take it back to court and have it dismissed for lack of evidence.聽 They cannot prove the medication was yours and they cannot prove you were taking it as they would have to have a blood test done at the time of the arrest.聽 I believe the courts may be more sensitive to colour right now and that should work in your favor.
DominicanadaMike wrote:Someone else on the board may confirm this as I am not sure but the FBI report is Federal and I don't think misdemeanors will even show up on the FBI report.聽 You are working with a lawyer that is well respected on this board so hopefully she has the experience to help you.聽 If not, please contact me through a private message and I will provide a lawyer that works here and in the US and will be able to solve this for you.聽 Of course lawyers cost money too so hopefully someone can confirm that misdemeanor's are not on the report...
The other option would be to take it back to court and have it dismissed for lack of evidence.聽 They cannot prove the medication was yours and they cannot prove you were taking it as they would have to have a blood test done at the time of the arrest.聽 I believe the courts may be more sensitive to colour right now and that should work in your favor.
This is correct--an FBI background check only covers federal crimes. It does not cover state or local crimes. You may want to order a copy of your FBI background check to confirm that the offense is not listed on there. If you went to a State Court (and not a Federal Court) to deal with the prosecutor and enter your plea, it will likely not be listed on the FBI background check. Therefore, it should not impact your emigration plans from the US.
With regards to the suggestion about having it dismissed--I doubt this is possible since you took a plea deal.
AlaPlaya wrote:DominicanadaMike wrote:Someone else on the board may confirm this as I am not sure but the FBI report is Federal and I don't think misdemeanors will even show up on the FBI report.聽 You are working with a lawyer that is well respected on this board so hopefully she has the experience to help you.聽 If not, please contact me through a private message and I will provide a lawyer that works here and in the US and will be able to solve this for you.聽 Of course lawyers cost money too so hopefully someone can confirm that misdemeanor's are not on the report...
The other option would be to take it back to court and have it dismissed for lack of evidence.聽 They cannot prove the medication was yours and they cannot prove you were taking it as they would have to have a blood test done at the time of the arrest.聽 I believe the courts may be more sensitive to colour right now and that should work in your favor.
This is correct--an FBI background check only covers federal crimes. It does not cover state or local crimes. You may want to order a copy of your FBI background check to confirm that the offense is not listed on there. If you went to a State Court (and not a Federal Court) to deal with the prosecutor and enter your plea, it will likely not be listed on the FBI background check. Therefore, it should not impact your emigration plans from the US.
With regards to the suggestion about having it dismissed--I doubt this is possible since you took a plea deal.
Thank you. this give me a lot of hope. I am going to order the FBI background as soon as possible.
I am guessing I will have to answer questions about criminal records I will have to say聽 I am clean . But I am going to invest $200k what happens if something shows later?聽 I am aware of how easy is to buy and how difficult is to sell in DR.
I suggest you message her on whatsapp, explain and ask your questions honey.聽 And please let us know.聽 We are all curious now.
planner wrote:I can't remember if it's a question or just you include the report.聽 That is definately a lawyer question.聽 And Lishali will answer things like this without charging you.聽 She won't lead you down a path knowing you won't qualify!聽 聽She is very unusual by Dominican lawyer standards!聽 There are others too like her.聽 聽And there are many more who will say anything just to get your money.聽
I suggest you message her on whatsapp, explain and ask your questions honey.聽 And please let us know.聽 We are all curious now.
Thank you planner. The reason I am not talking with a lawyer yet is because I am not completely sure about the country I will choose and don鈥檛 want to waste anyone鈥檚 time.聽 DR is very special to me because it鈥檚 a lot alike to my beautiful island (cuba) they are a few countries in South America that are very appealing but the ocean is not the same on that part of the world. The armed crime is the only thing I am concerned in DR. I can live with mosquitoes, bad water, power interruptions but I need to make sure my family will be safe.
I am planning to spend a couples of months in the cabrera area to see how secure I feel.
Alextrucking wrote:From reading online looks like you guys are right on the misdemeanor not showing on FBI聽 especially because I was never arrested and fingerprints were not necessary. This lead me to another question and I know I should ask to a lawyer but here is free so for now I will keep picking brains.
I am guessing I will have to answer questions about criminal records I will have to say聽 I am clean . But I am going to invest $200k what happens if something shows later?聽 I am aware of how easy is to buy and how difficult is to sell in DR.
It is my understanding that you include a copy of the FBI background check apostillized by the US State Department (and subsequently translated into Spanish) without ever answering additional questions on it. Unless you later commit a federal offense, I don't see why it would later show up on any FBI background check.
DRVisitor wrote:Not true, I have a misdemeanor and few violations which showed on mine from local level.
Hi. Do you remember if fingerprints were taking during your misdemeanor? Were you arrested?
Thank you.
DRVisitor wrote:Not true, I have a misdemeanor and few violations which showed on mine from local level.
Was it an FBI background check or an RCMP background check?
DRVisitor wrote:FBI
Ultimately it comes down to the reporting mechanisms of each state. There is no uniform reporting requirement, so each state has control about what offenses get reported by each county. Furthermore, the FBI used to exclude certain offenses that were reported to it (since the federal regulations required them to be excluded). But they stopped screening the offenses reported years ago due to the sheer volume of offenses.
The original poster said he was never arrested and fingerprinted, so without fingerprints , I would expect a 1-2% chance of his misdemeanor being reported on the FBI background check.
Thanks-
CDL penalties are much higher.
Which is a main reason we are experiencing a trucker shortage.
I'm retired law enforcement and you are correct.... The court system is a crap shoot 馃憥馃愤. Prosecutors like to intimidate people. It makes their job easier.聽 Guilty till PROVEN innocent.
It's not a " justice system " it's a "legal system" run exclusively by lawyers.
Best of luck.

It would be just plain embarrassing if that presented a problem.
But of course, follow the lawyer's advise...
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